MCAT Biology : Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Genetics

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for MCAT Biology

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Example Questions

Example Question #1091 :Biology

Suppose two individuals with the genotypes PPQqRr and ppQqrr mate. What is the probability that their offspring will display the genotype PpQQRr?

Possible Answers:

1/8

1/4

1/32

1/16

1/2

Correct answer:

1/8

Explanation:

While this question looks complicated it can be broken down into three individual Punnett squares, and the probability of each of the three individual allele genotypes can be multiplied to give the desired answer.

Starting with P: Parent 1 is homozygous dominant (PP) and parent 2 is homozygous recessive (pp), therefore 100% of their offspring will be heterozygous (Pp), or 1/1.

For Q: Both parents are heterozygous (Qq); therefore 1/4 of their offspring will be QQ, 1/2 will be Qq, and 1/4 will be qq.

R:父母1是杂合的(Rr)和家长2is homozygous recessive (rr); therefore 1/2 their offspring will be Rr and 1/2 will be rr.

Because the question asks the probability that the offspring is PpQQRr, we can multiply 1/1 * 1/4 * 1/2 = 1/8.

Example Question #1091 :Biology

Two pea plants are crossed. One plant is homozygous dominant for purple flowers, and the other is homozygous recessive for white flowers. What fraction of the F2 population will have white flowers?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The parent cross (P generation) will be PP x pp, where P is the dominant allele (purple) and p is the recessive allele (white). All offspring from this cross will be heterozygous, Pp, and will represent the F1 generation.

The F2 generation will result from a cross of the F1 generation, meaning Pp x Pp. This cross will result in 1 PP, 2 Pp, and 1 pp genotypes. Only one out of every four F2 offspring will have the recessive phenotype of white flowers.

Example Question #44 :Mendel And Inheritance Patterns

The concept of genomic imprinting is important in human genetics. In genomic imprinting, a certain region of DNA is only expressed by one of the two chromosomes that make up a typical homologous pair. In healthy individuals, genomic imprinting results in the silencing of genes in a certain section of the maternal chromosome 15. The DNA in this part of the chromosome is "turned off" by the addition of methyl groups to the DNA molecule. Healthy people will thus only have expression of this section of chromosome 15 from paternally-derived DNA.

说明def的两个经典的人类疾病ects in genomic imprinting are Prader-Willi and Angelman Syndromes. In Prader-Willi Syndrome, the section of paternal chromosome 15 that is usually expressed is disrupted, such as by a chromosomal deletion. In Angelman Syndrome, maternal genes in this section are deleted, while paternal genes are silenced. Prader-Willi Syndrome is thus closely linked to paternal inheritance, while Angelman Syndrome is linked to maternal inheritance.

Figure 1 shows the chromosome 15 homologous pair for a child with Prader-Willi Syndrome. The parental chromosomes are also shown. The genes on the mother’s chromosomes are silenced normally, as represented by the black boxes. At once, there is also a chromosomal deletion on one of the paternal chromosomes. The result is that the child does not have any genes expressed that are normally found on that region of this chromosome.

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The parents of the child in Figure 1 decide to have a second child. This child is diagnosed at birth with both cystic fibrosis and Prader-Willi. Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive disorder inherited on chromosome 7. The mother and father are both healthy. What was the probability of the child being born with both Prader-Willi and cystic fibrosis?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To be diagnosed with both cystic fibrosis and Prader-Willi, this child would have inherited either of the maternal alleles and the deleted paternal allele (50% chance of this happening). If the mother's chromosome 15 genotype is said to be AA and the father is Aa, where a is the chromosomal deletion, we can see that the possible combinations are: AA, AA, Aa, Aa. There is a 50% chance of inheriting the chromosome with the deletion.

He would have also had to inherit both dysfunctional copies of chromosome 7. Since both parents were healthy, they must be heterozygous carriers. The child has a 25% chance of inheriting one damaged chromosome from each parent. If each parent has genotype Cc, we can see that the possible offspring are: CC, Cc, Cc, cc. There is a 25% chance of inheriting both recessive alleles for cystic fibrosis.

Combining these probabilities tells us the chance of inheriting both disorders.

Example Question #41 :Mendel And Inheritance Patterns

A scientist is working with a new species of insect and is specifically observing the inheritance of two traits: eye color and antennae shape. Eye colors come in red (dominant) and white (recessive), and antennae come in long shapes (dominant) and short shapes (recessive). He performs a dihybrid cross between two insects heterozygous for both traits and observes a ratio of 3:1 (red eyes and long antennae: white eyes short antennae). Which of the following explanations most likely explains the observed ratio?

Possible Answers:

The genes for eye color and antennae length are linked

昆虫的recombin高得让人难以置信ation

The recessive phenotypes are lethal

Application of Mendel's law of independent assortment

Correct answer:

The genes for eye color and antennae length are linked

Explanation:

If Mendel's law of independent assortment applied to this case, we would expect to see a normal 9:3:3:1 phenotypic ratio of offspring. Also, we know that the recessive phenotypes are not lethal because we are told that approximately 25% of the progeny were homozygous recessive for both traits. The most likely explanation is that the genes are linked (located very closely on the same chromosome) and, thus, segregate together. Even if the insects had high rates of recombination it would not affect these genes that are, according to the offspring ratios, completely linked.

Example Question #1121 :Mcat Biological Sciences

Blue eyes are recessive to brown eyes. A brown-eyed woman and a blue-eyed man have three children. The woman's mother (children's grandmother) has blue eyes. What is the probability that all three children will have blue eyes?

Possible Answers:

More information is needed to answer

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The first step to this question is to determine the parental genotypes. We will useBto signify brown eyes andbto signify blue eyes.

The man in the question has blue eyes; he must be homozygous recessive in order to possess this genotype. The woman has brown eyes, but we are told that her mother had blue eyes. Her mother, then, must have been homozygous recessive and must have passed a recessive allele to the woman. Since she displays the dominant phenotype, but has a recessive allele, she must be a heterozygous carrier. The woman's father's phenotype is not necessary for this conclusion.

The parental cross will beBb(woman) xbb(man). This will generate two possible offspring genotypes: halfBb(brown eyes) and halfbb(blues eyes). To find the probability of three blue-eyed offspring, we need to multiply the probability for blue eyes three times.

Example Question #1101 :Biology

In a dihybrid cross, what fraction of offspring will be homozygous for both traits?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

A dihybrid cross has two genes that have two alleles:AaandBb. In order for the progeny to be homozygous for both alleles, both genes need to have two copies of the same allele. As a result, there are four possible genotypes that allow the offspring to be homozygous for both genes at the same time:AABB,AAbb,aaBB, andaabb. This means that there are four out of sixteenvariations that will result in a homozygous organism.

Example Question #48 :Mendel And Inheritance Patterns

Passage:

This has seemed a fatal objection to the chromosome view, but it may not be so, as Spillman has argued, so long as it has not yet been shown that all of the dominant characters may be present at the same time. But even admitting this possible way of eluding the objection, the other point raised above concerning the absence of groupings of characters in Mendelian inheritance seems a fatal objection to the chromosome theory, so long as that theory attempts to locate each character in a special chromosome. We shall have occasion to return to this point later.

近年来在孟德尔inherita大部分工人nce have adopted a new method of formulating their theory. Characters that Mendelize are no longer allelomorphic to each other, but each character has for its pair the absence of that character. This is the presence and absence theory. We can apply this hypothesis to the chromosome theory. For examples, let us assume a new variety or race arises by the loss of a character from that chromosome that has heretofore carried it. The chromosome still remains in existence, since it may carry many other characters besides the one that was lost, and it becomes in the hybrid the mate of the one still retaining that character. If now separation occurs, two classes of germ-cells result, one with and the other without the character; and the observed numerical proportions follow. There is nothing in this assumption that meets with any greater difficulty on the chromosome separation hypothesis than on the earlier view of paired allelomorphs, but it meets with the same difficulties, and as an assumption is neither more nor less in accord with the postulated mechanism.

Excerpt from Morgan, T. H. 1910. Chromosomes and heredity. The American Naturalist, 44:449–496.

Asssume that in a particular studied species of rodents, coat color is an autosomally-inherited trait, with black fur being the dominant phenotype and white fur being the recessive phenotype. In an experiment, a mouse with black fur mates with a mouse with a mouse with white fur. The resultant 26 offspring mice all have grey fur color. Which of the following genetic principles is best demonstrated by this result?

Possible Answers:

Nondisjunction

Codominance

Incomplete Dominance

X-linkage

Spontaneous mutation

Correct answer:

Incomplete Dominance

Explanation:

The genetic principle best demonstrated here is incomplete dominance. Incomplete dominance means that if a given trait has two alleles, neither allele is individually dominant to the other allele, and therefore, if an organism is heterozygous for that trait, it will display a phenotype that is intermediate between that coded for by each individual alleles.

In this case, the parent mice are most likely BB (black fur) and bb (white fur), therefore homozygotes for fur color. As a result, any offspring that they have, will have genotype Bb. If this trait was inherited in such a manner that black fur was completely dominant to white fur, or vice versa, the mice would have either one of those fur colors in the progeny. Because the resulting fur color is grey, which is intermediate between black and white, this is evidence that the genetic principle at play here is incomplete dominance.

Co-dominance is not the correct answer because a heterozygote for a co-dominant trait would demonstrate both phenotypes simultaneously (e.g. black and white fur color), rather than a blending of the individual phenotypes (e.g. grey fur color) as in these mice.

X-linkage of fur color would not describe the presence of an intermediate phenotype, nor would nondisjunction.

Spontaneous mutation could, in theory, result in a phenotype different from that of the parent mice. However, given that the resultant phenotype for the progeny mice was intermediate to that of the parents' fur colors, and the fact that all progeny demonstrated this phenotype, rather than just one or two mice, this is a more compelling demonstration of incomplete dominance.

Example Question #53 :Genetics

How does meiosis incorporate genetic variation into the creation of haploid cells?

Possible Answers:

The exchange of DNA sequences during prophase I

Crossing over in somatic cells

The deletion and addition of certain DNA sequences in telophase I

The random separation of entire tetrads during anaphase I

Correct answer:

The exchange of DNA sequences during prophase I

Explanation:

Meiosis only takes place in germ cells and is used to make haploid cells. In order to be genetically unique, chromosomes will exchange DNA sequences in a process called crossing over. This process of exchanging genetic material takes place during prophase I. Somatic cells are never involved in meiosis or crossing over, and DNA will never be deleted or added from the genome. Though separation of tetrads occurs during anaphase I and follows the law of independent assortment, the entire tetrad does not remain joined. This would result in nondisjunction.

Example Question #1 :Recombination And Meiosis

Which of the following statements are true about the significance of meiosis?

I. Enhances genetic variation

II. Maintains ploidy in sexually reproducing organisms

III. Allows for the potential repair of damaged DNA

Possible Answers:

I only

I and II

I, II, and III

II and III

Correct answer:

I, II, and III

Explanation:

All of the answers describe the diverse purposes of meiosis. Genetic variation is enhanced through the process of recombination and the separation of homologous chromosomes. Maintenance of ploidy in sexually reproducing organisms is achieved because gametes contain exactly half the number of chromosomes present in the mature organism. During fertilization, a gamete from a male and a gamete from a female combine and the result is a cell of normal ploidy. Meiosis also allows the cell an opportunity to repair damaged DNA via recombination between homologous chromosomes.

Example Question #53 :Genetics

Cellular division is an essential part of the cell cycle. When a cell divides it passes genetic information to daughter cells. The amount of genetic information passed on to daughter cells depends on whether the cell undergoes mitosis or meiosis. Mitosis is the most common form of cell division. All somatic cells undergo mitosis, whereas only germ cells undergo meiosis. Meiosis is very important because it produces gametes (sperm and eggs) that are required for sexual reproduction. Human germ cells have 46 chromosomes (2n = 46) and undergo meiosis to produce four haploid daughter cells (gametes).

A couple has ten children that look very different from one another. This phenomenon can be attributed to which of the following?

Possible Answers:

Crossing over

Independent assortment

Ploidy of the gametes

Cell differentiation

Correct answer:

Crossing over

Explanation:

性reproduct的主要特征之一ion is that it involves recombination. Recombination is the process by which genetic material is exchanged between chromosomes to create new alleles. This leads to innumerable possibilities for an offspring and is the reason why a couple can have ten unique children.

Recombination in meiosis occurs during prophase I. In prophase I genetic material between homologous chromosomes is exchanged in a process called crossing over. This exchange between genetic material leads to the ten children with different appearances.

Independent assortment helps explain why the offspring may not resemble the parent, but does less to explain why they do not resemble each other. During independent assortment, the homologous pairs are separated randomly such that a unique combination of maternal and paternal alleles are present in each cell after meiosis I. This can result in the expression of recessive alleles in the offspring that were not expressed in either parent.

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